One of my duties as Head of Household...

We began to notice that Isabella really enjoys looking at all the pictures of her little friends that we have on our refrigerator, so almost every day we take her over there and point out who everyone is. She acts really interested. It started to remind me of a television show I watch, "Big Brother". Each week, the "Head of Household" goes to the wall where everyone's pictures are and says "One of my duties as Head of Household is to nominate two people for eviction...." so I also started reciting that to her as well each time we go over to the fridge. More recently she has started to reach out and grab at the pictures. Yesterday she "nominated" Ryan Mann and Aleah Lemke!



The Big Brother series finale is Sunday night, it was actually not too exciting of a season as compared to others. The only exciting part was that there was a girl on there from Cedar Falls, she must be a UNI student, but then she went berserk and started crushing Easter eggs and being not so nice to the other houseguests, so that was kind of disappointing...

Little Sox Fan

Hey! Aren't the White Sox on?


Hmmm, I think someone turned my chair the wrong direction, I can't quite see the Sox..

Someone, please, just turn the chair... my neck is starting to hurt!

Mama retaliates

Isabella received her first "incident report" at daycare and on her 4 month birthday no less... Along with her daily log sheet there was another piece of paper - the incident report. It read "Isabella was rocking in the bouncy seat when another child stood up against the seat and accidentally hit her in the head with a rattle" It reported that the child (Isabella) was injured with a small red mark on the right side of her head. Coincidentally the mark is in the exact same spot on her head as her mama's injury!! Last week it was ear infections, this week it is head injuries. Actually the spot is so small it won't even show up in a picture, so no need to worry about Isabella. They said she did cry quite a bit, though, poor thing!

Another one of her daycare teachers told Jeff there is another child that has been competing with Isabella for the famed "yellow chair" so maybe he is to blame for the rattle incident! Dad believes that the child was hired by mama to put a hit out on Isabella in retaliation for the hit Isabella put out on her Saturday night.

98 bottles of beer on the wall

Izzie put a 'hit' out on her mama this last weekend. To celebrate Stacey and Tammy's birthdays, the girls decided to meet in CF and go out. This would be my first entire night away from Isabella. Daddy and Isabella stayed back in Coralville. The night was going really well and it was really nice for the girls to be together since we never get to see each other. We started off at the Stuffed Olive Martini Bar and then headed over to Joker's to dance.



Just when it was about time to go home, I got hit on the head with what I can only assume is a beer bottle, maybe thrown from the balcony. I heard glass breaking and thought my head hurt a little, but I didn't realize I was bleeding. Cathy looked at me and said "what happened?" referring to the blood running down my arm. I realized something was very wrong so we ran up to the bartender who sent us over to someone to look at it. We got it cleaned up in the back room at Joker's, but it was still bleeding. I couldn't really tell the extent of the injury, so we decided I'd better go to the emergency room. Georgine (Stacey's mom) had planned on coming to pick us up and take us home that night, so we called her and had her drop Cathy and I off at the ER. Luckily, the ER in Cedar Falls doesn't get much action and we just walked right in and someone treated me immediately. They pulled out a stapler and put 2 staples in my head!!! Luckily, it didn't hurt much, but I have to go to my doctor next Monday and get the staples removed. We're sure the whole situation didn't look good... coming into the ER at 1:45 in the morning because of being hit on the head with a beer bottle when you have a 4 month old you left at home in Coralville... could raise some eyebrows. I'm not sure what the nurses and doctors were thinking. Cathy tried to take a few pictures in the ER but go in trouble by the doctor. I'm thinking maybe I was given the ER treatment for a drunk UNI college student, when I told the nurse I was 31 he really really acted like he didn't believe me.

Jeff maintains a couple of theorys.. first, Isabella is behind the whole thing and trying to punish me for leaving her for a night. second, the circumference of my head is so large, he's surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often. Who knows what really happened, but it makes for an interesting story. It takes a lot of work to get all that blood out of my hair and who knows if I've even gotten it all out yet. Tammy mentioned it is a good thing I don't have blond hair! This whole incident brings back memories of when I stepped on a broken beer bottle while dancing at Shagnastys (yes, that was the name of the bar) 10+ years ago. The glass was curved just right so that it wrapped around my foot and cut it. My foot bled for a week after that!

Now I have to deal with the bar still and insurance issues. I'm pretty sure the bar is going to cover it, but it might end up being a hassle. I was just happy I had gotten everything straightened out with some of the insurance issues I was having with Isabella's birth (3 insurance companies in the last 4 months because my company got acquired by another company) but it looks like now I'll be on the phone with insurance again...

Thanks to Georgine for picking us up and giving me a ride to ER.
Thanks to Cathy for hanging out with me in the ER and answering questions for me when I got confused.
Thanks to Jesse for picking us up from the ER.
Thanks to Tammy for washing the blood out of my jeans.
Thanks to Stacey for providing plenty of entertainment throughout the evening!

Jeff and Isabella survived their night of just the two of them. It must have been a little rough on Jeff because this is a picture of him napping the next day. So tired, he couldn't even lift his legs or take his shoes off!

Isabella Rolls Over!

It was reported to us by Isabella's daycare that she rolled over on Monday! We are very excited, but were also a little skeptical because when we lay her on her tummy she doesn't seem be even be close to rolling over. So, Monday night we tried and nothing... just the normal screaming because she hates to be on her tummy. Tues morning Jeff found out that not only did she roll over on Monday, she was doing it a few times! So, Tues night, we laid her on her tummy and she flipped right over! Too quick for us to capture it on camera and she only did it once because she doesn't like to be a show-off.

Isabella almost, but not quite rolling
Originally uploaded by Hawkeye Grover

Isabella's First Trip to Kinnick Stadium

"Tailgating" with the Lemkes

Last Saturday was the Spring Game/Practice for the Iowa Hawkeyes Football team and we took Isabella up there so she could go into Kinnick stadium for the first time (not including all the times she went while in mommy's tummy) We were looking forward to a day of tailgating and watching the Hawkeyes, but unfortunately the University and Iowa weather had different things in store for us. First of all, the University decided not to allow alcohol in the parking lots that day. Kind of disappointing since Robin wasn't able to drink alcohol last fall during football season either. Someone from Hawkeyesports.com was walking around taking pictures and Isabella made it into the photo gallery. She is picture #11. We know she looks like such a cute little boy when she is dressed up in her black and gold... she's jealous that little Aleah has enough hair to wear a barrette now.

Then, as the day went on it got colder and more rainy. We kept having to wrap more blankets around Isabella. The rain didn't really start until we were inside the stadium and then we even ended up wrapping her up in her carseat cover. Because of the weather, we didn't get to stay for very long. It was fun to hang out with the Lemkes for the day, but we missed Aiden and Amanda. One of these days we'll be able to get all the kids together!

View all the pictures from the day.


Isabella snug as a bug in a rug in her carsesat cover.

Another Ear Infection and a 4 month appt.

We have another ear infection, this time Daddy has it. He went to the Doctor Tuesday night and the Doctor said that it is a pretty nasty ear infection. Dad has had a very similar cold to Isabella for the last few days and is now taking the same medication as Isabella. They are two peas in a pod...

Isabella had her 4 month appointment on Wednesday and her ear infection has totally cleared up. Isabella's measurements are as follows:
Head 15 3/4 inches 25th percentile
Weight 13lbs. 9 1/2 ounces 50th percentile
Length 25 1/4 inches long 85th percentile

As a result of her measurements we have decided that Isabella's new nickname is Pinhead. She seems to be doing wonderful aside from constantly pooping as a result of the amoxiciilin. She also got her next round of shots. Three pokes in the leg and and the rotavirus vaccine orally. She did very well, just screaming when they gave her the shots and calmed down very quickly. The doctor discussed starting her on a few solid foods, but since the breastfeeding is going so well we are probably going to keep doing that exclusively until she is 6 months. If she is seeming really hungry or seems really interested in what we are eating, we might try some rice cereal, otherwise we will just discuss it more at her 6 month appt.

Tax Day

Isabella hopes everyone got their taxes done on time. She wore her "Tax Deduction" onesie into daycare for the occasion. Our taxes were smooth sailing this year. Our friend Dano had us over for a 'tax party' where his tax person came over and did a few people's taxes for a low price. While we got our taxes done, Dano fed Isabella and then played with her for a bit. Thanks Dano!

Slobberfest 2008

Not sure why Jeff started repeating "Slobberfest 2008" to Isabella last weekend, but he got some giggles out of it. I grabbed the camera and started recording. There's just something about the giggles... if I hear her giggling from another room, I drop what I'm doing and go running straight to her. Mostly it is Jeff that can get her to do it, but on occasion I can get a few out of her. Here's the video

Ear Infection

Isabella hadn't been feeling well lately, we could tell she was congested, but thought it was probably just a cold, she wasn't running a fever or anything. Then she developed this dry, hacking cough that was waking her up at night. It is so sad to hear her in her crib just coughing away. So, I decided I'd better call the doctor to see if they thought they should see her. Since her appetite was down a little and the cough was waking her up, they decided I'd better bring her in. Isabella's doctor didn't have any openings that day so we had to see one of her associates, Dr. Hackbarth - which is Aiden's doctor, so we knew we would be in good hands. The doctor checked her over and found an ear infection in her right ear. Poor thing. We wonder how long she's had it. So now she has to be on antibiotics for 10 days. I thought I could just swing by Walgreens and grab her prescription quick, but they said it would take at least an hour. So, I figured I'd have to go home and come back out and pick it up. Isabella's Uncle John and Aunt Kristy were coming over that night. We knew we were going to get pizza so we decided to get pizza from Wig and Pen (yum!) since I'd be out in the area getting the prescription. When I left to go get it, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the county we live in, but they said that Iowa City and Coralville were not being affected with this warning. So I went to Walgreens and they were closed because of the tornado that the National Weather Service issued even though it wasn't affecting them. I went to get the pizza and then swung back by Walgreens and saw that someone was trying to go in the front door and turning around and going right back out, so I assumed they still weren't open. I had to drive back out there later that night again to get the medicine. Then I asked the Pharmacist if there is anything special about using the syringe. She looks at the instructions for using it and says it is pretty straightforward. Well, it is not that easy to understand these directions, but we've figured it out. (The syringe she gave us doesn't work with the bottle of the antibiotic.) Anyhow, I can't wait until the new Walgreens they are building really close to our home is finished, so next time I have to make 3 trips there, it won't be as far!!

Hopefully Isabella gets over her ear infection soon and starts getting back to her old self.

Skype

We recently downloaded Skype for free, which allows you to make free calls over the internet to other people for as long as you like, to wherever you like. We did this so we could use the webcam on our laptop to let our family who is far away be able to see and interact with Isabella. Our first call was to Grandma Kellbach in which she could see us through our webcam. Since then both Grandmas have gotten the opportunity to see and hear Isabella. We have had to set up the laptop in some interesting locations because the webcam is fixed into the top of the laptop so that others can watch Isabella play.

Isabella is on You Tube

We recently posted a couple of videos of Isabella on to You Tube. These videos are from around the end of February 2008. Here are the links to them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPW42XSEe6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-ogW08KRdQ&feature=user
We will try to post more videos soon and hopefully I will get better at shooting the video.

White Sox Opening Day

Izzie decided to get dressed up for White Sox opening day on 3/31. She wasn't too interested in watching the game. She got very cranky - persumably over the two calls at the end of the game that cost the Sox a chance of winning. Thanks to Great Aunt Mo, Great Uncle Mike and the rest of the Redman clan for providing her pink White Sox gear!

Alumni Weekend

We went to Dubuque last weekend for Jeff's annual Alumni Basketball Tournament. It was a little nerve racking, but we packed up the car with everything we could think of and headed out Friday afternoon. We had been expecting Izzie to take a nap in the car, but found out she had slept at daycare from 11:40 to 3pm that day! She still fell asleep for about 45 minutes of the drive there. Jeff's first game was at 6:30 pm that night and they won. Izzie did well sitting on my lap during that game and seemed like she was actually watching some of the action out on the court. Afterwards, we went out to Red Robin to grab something to eat with the teammates and Izzie continued to remain content just hanging out. We went back to hotel and got her to bed around 10ish only to be woken up by the fire alarm at 12:15! The alarm was so loud and somehow Izzie slept through it. We felt a little like horrible parents because we didn't grab our baby and run out of the building, but we didn't seem to be in any immediate danger and didn't want to risk waking her up. Jeff checked out in the hallway and saw some people leaving (including the Davis's) but I ended up calling the front desk and they said it was a false alarm. The alarm continued for a while and then it was shut off. However, 3 more times in the next hour it went off for a few seconds and then would stop. We are still so surprised that Izzie slept through it.

The next morning we went down to the free breakfast (free because of the fire alarm) with the Davis's. Amanda pointed out that with the four of us it seemed kind of like eating a breakfast buffet in the Dominican Republic or Mexico, but since we were bouncing infants on our knees and the weather outside was around 40 degrees, we decided it wasn't the same at all. Since the boys didn't have their first game until 1:30, Amanda and I took Aiden and Isabella out for a walk. We think (hope) they took a nap during that, but weren't sure since they were covered up. I spent most of the 1:30 game trying to get Isabella to take a nap in her carseat since she seemed pretty cranky and tired. They won their game.

Little fans watching the game

Afterwards we presented the Kilgores with a memorial bench for their son, Tadhg, that passed away in January. This weekend was rightfully an emotional one as it was at last year's tournament that the Kilgore's told us they were expecting their second child. The Davis's also announced they were expecting and Jeff and I weren't even pregnant yet. When I told Michelle later that summer we were expecting I thought about all the new babies that would be at the tournament. It seemed unfair that Tadhg was not there to play with Isabella and Aiden.


The next game was at 5:30, so we went back to the hotel for a bit before heading out to their next game. They won. We went back to the hotel again before meeting the team at Pusateris for dinner and drinks. Isabella was still being such a champ for being in and out of her car seat so many times in one day.

Aiden shows off his exersaucer to Isabella.

The championship game was on Sunday. They won and kept their streak as champions going for another year! This was their 4th consecutive championship. All the photos from this weekend are here.